Shoichiro Suzuki
Shared Lines: Christchurch / Sendai exhibiting artist
仙台で仕事をしながら絵を描いている鈴木昭一郎と申します。
はじめにこのような機会を与えていただいた事と、お声がけ下さった高田さんをはじめ関係者の皆様に心より感謝申し上げます。
Hello, my name is Shoichiro Suzuki. I work full time and I am also an artist.
First, I would like to thank you all for giving me this wonderful opportunity to participate in this event. I also want to thank Aya and everyone else involved for inviting me to participate.

現在の私の作品について紹介させていただきますと、描いているのはどれも具象画です。主に人物画を描いていますが、顔や手足が極端にデフォルメされております。またスプーンやフォークを持ったり、固く手を握りしめたりして画面中央で身構えています。
私がこの表現に到達したきっかけは単純で、ある朝シャワーを浴びていたら、突然スプーンとフォークを持って身構えている少年のイメージがひらめいたのです。しかしながら、それは自分自身にとって素晴らしいひらめきでした。
Today I would like to talk about my current projects. All the paintings that I have been working on are representational paintings. I mainly feature people and extremely deformed faces, hands and legs, as well as forks or spoons grasped in a clenched hand.
The reason why I decided to use this as a means of expression is very simple. One morning, while taking a shower, an image of a boy holding a spoon and fork in his hand just came to my head. This idea was a great inspiration to me.

それ以前の私は全く別の絵を描いていました。それは遠近法を逆手にとって開発したもので、人間のパーツが画面の外部からやってきて、別々の箇所から画面中央に向かって入り込むような構図をとっておりました。
ピカソの影響を受けており、自分なりの解釈を交えて作品にしておりました。
Prior to this, I had been drawing in a different style. I had developed my own technique which played on perspective. My compositions depict human body parts coming from outside the painting, approaching the center of the painting from different directions
I have been greatly influenced by Picasso, so I have interpreted his works in my own way.
しかし、自分の作風を維持する為にその構図にこだわらなければなりませんでした。従って構図主体であり、しかも変化のない構図で将来性の無い絵画でした。ところがある日突然ひらめいた絵画は、単純化された構図なのに、少ないパーツで人間の全てを表現できており、変化がない様に見えて、見るたびに絶えず変化を起こす事ができるように思いました。
In order to keep my paintings’ originality, I needed to stick to the technique that I developed myself. In the end, I put too much focus on the technique, which made my paintings non-descriptive and hopeless. However, the image of a boy holding a fork on his hand was very simple and depicted every part of the human being.

自分自身が生み出した作風にも関わらずなぜそうなるのか、最初は理解できませんでしたが、それは『感情の構図化』、すなわち自分自身の心の有り様がそのまま形や構図となって画面に現れた結果だとわかりました。人間は心であり、感情であり、思考です。見かけの美しさや健康も大事かもしれませんが、生きている芸術、生身を感じる芸術とは、心を体現できている芸術の事なのです。
よくアートは心のためにあるという台詞を聞きますが、生きた芸術に触れると、たとえ子供が作った作品であっても、見る側、触れる側の心を揺さぶります。
It seems very simple, but the more I see of the image, the more I can view it differently. I did not understand at first why I felt that way, despite the fact that the painting was my own work painted with my own original technique. Later on, I came to the conclusion that my emotions were naturally reflected in my painting. Every human being has a heart, emotions and thoughts. Of course, beauty and health are valued in this world, but art should be valued as well. Art pieces that make us feel, also express the heart of the artists.
We often hear that “art is for our heart & mind.” When people see and feel art with soul, even if it is created by a child, it really touches people’s hearts and minds.
反対にスーパーリアルな絵画でもマネキンにしか見えないようなものがあったりするのは、心の構図が存在していないからだと思います。心の構図の完成こそ究極の技法であり、最も重要な研究対象の一つだと思います。
最後に、東日本大震災後、被災地のたくさんの芸術家が、様々な支援と素晴らしい活動を行い、かつ自身の作品も決して手を抜く事なく作り続けています。有名な芸術家が注目されながら自分のできる範囲で活動を行うのも素晴らしい事ですが、誰も注目しなくても、強く輝き、皆の心を動かして幸せに導いている沢山の芸術家がいる事を知ってもらいたいと思います。
To the contrary, when people see a very realistic painting, they sometimes feel like they are just looking at a mannequin. I believe the reason why people feel that way is that the painting does not have emotion. Expressing emotion in art is the ultimate technique and one of the most important research themes.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, many artists in the disaster affected areas, have made great efforts to encourage people while also continuing with their own art projects. Famous artists can do a lot to support those affected by disaster by bringing attention to the problem. However, I would like you to know that there are countless lesser-known artists are out there shining and bringing happiness to many people.